Half a million people without heating in Kharkiv region following Russian attack – Reuters
Following the attack on Ukraine’s energy system, Reuters reports that half a million people in Kharkiv region were left without heating on Christmas Day, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero. Meanwhile there were blackouts in the capital Kyiv and elsewhere.
Russia has intensified attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector since spring of this year, damaging almost half of its generating capacity and causing prolonged blackouts.
Key events
Russian forces have taken control of Vidrodzhennia – Tass
The Russian Defence Ministry has said that Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Vidrodzhennia in eastern Ukraine.
Russian defence ministry says it carried out ‘massive strike’ on Ukrainian energy system
Reuters is reporting that the Russian defence ministry said it had conducted a “massive strike” on what it said were critical energy facilities in Ukraine that support the work of Kyiv’s military-industrial complex.
Four people were killed and five people were injured in the town of Lgov in Russia’s Kursk region after Ukrainian shelling, the region’s acting governor said on Wednesday.
“A five-storey residential building, two single-storey residential buildings and a single-storey beauty salon were seriously damaged,” Alexander Khinshtein wrote on Telegram.
“The blast wave blew out windows in neighbouring private residences and damaged at least 12 cars. A small section of a gas pipeline was also destroyed by the blast.”
US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has commented on Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Posting on X, she said:
Russia’s Christmas gift to Ukraine: more than 70 missiles and 100 drones, directed at Ukrainian families celebrating in their homes and the energy infrastructure that keeps them. For the third holiday season, Russia weaponizes winter.
Half a million people without heating in Kharkiv region following Russian attack – Reuters
Following the attack on Ukraine’s energy system, Reuters reports that half a million people in Kharkiv region were left without heating on Christmas Day, in temperatures just a few degrees Celsius above zero. Meanwhile there were blackouts in the capital Kyiv and elsewhere.
Russia has intensified attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector since spring of this year, damaging almost half of its generating capacity and causing prolonged blackouts.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires from Ukraine.
We have more on Russia’s strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Maxim Timchenko, the CEO of DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, whose equipment was severly damaged in the attack, wrote on his X account:
Denying light and warmth to millions of peace-loving people as they celebrate Christmas is a depraved and evil act that must be answered.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s response in full to the attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure which he posted on Telegram.
Every massive Russian strike requires time for preparation. It is never a spontaneous decision. It is a deliberate choice – not only of targets but also of timing and date.
Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas for an attack. What could be more inhuman? Over 70 missiles, including ballistic ones, and more than a hundred attack drones. The targets are our energy infrastructure.
They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine. According to preliminary reports, our defenders managed to shoot down more than 50 missiles and a significant number of drones.
Unfortunately, there have been hits. As of now, there are power outages in several regions. Power engineers are working to restore power supply as soon as possible.
I thank everyone who is working for the country, who is on combat duty, who is protecting our skies. We will restore the maximum. Russian evil will not break Ukraine and will not spoil Christmas.
Hello and welcome to the Ukraine live blog.
We start with news that Russia has launched a major Christmas morning attack on Ukraine’s energy system and cities in its eastern region with cruise and ballistic missiles, Ukrainian officials said.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described the attack as “inhuman” and rounded on Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas to attack. What could be more inhuman? More than 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and more than a hundred attack drones,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messenger.
He said there were hits and blackouts in several regions because of the strike. “The targets are our energy. They continue to fight for a blackout in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s air defence downed more than 50 Russian missiles in the strike on Wednesday.
In further developments:
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At least three people were wounded in a missile attack on Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine, the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said.
“Kharkiv is under a massive missile attack. A series of explosions were heard in the city and there are still ballistic missiles heading towards the city,” Terekhov wrote on Telegram early on Wednesday.
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Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, whose equipment was severly damaged in the attack, said on the Telegram messaging app: “This year, it is the 13th massive attack on the Ukrainian energy sector and the 10th massive attack on the company’s energy facilities.”
